Foliage spiders

12°C, brisk W. Sunny.
Took a tour of the garden this evening. There is plenty going on, digitalis, laburnum and lupins in flower. One of the lupins is broken, so I staked the others. Recent wind will have caught them.
Animal life: my neighbour tells me he found newts which can only have come from my garden. There are no other ponds nearby. For this, I am thrilled!
Fennel is growing faster this year, and one is especially interesting.
Foliage spiders have formed a nursery

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They panic and rush apart if you prod them. It takes ten minutes for calm to return and they regroup. Delightful.

Green blood.

12°C, moderate W wind. Sunny and dry.
I rode Jake cyclocross with MapMyRide+! Distance: 38.4mi, time: 03:00:16, pace: 4:41min/mi, speed: 12.8mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/1006508127
It was  chilly early start this morning, and of course, the roads were very quiet. Good conditions even after a night of rain that left trails softer than hard-pack.
Puncture caused by a thorn. The tyre deflated quickly at first, but I wanted the Slime inner-tubes to work so I left the tyre on. I blew the tyre up three times in all and could see slime bubbling out of the hole made by the spike.

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Eventually the deflation became slower. And the last leg of the ride was along a canal towpath. A surface like that makes sensing  a soft tyre more difficult.
The tyre is holding pressure now.
I think.

Arenig bothy.

11°C, sunny and calm.
Return with a vague idea to walk to the bothy in the Arenig range. Called in the hiking shops in Betws-y-Coed first. That took more time than it should but I did get some good stuff- a tarp and waterproof bag liners. There was a guy on the campsite with a tarp fitted to a tent the same as mine, that would be useful for cooking in the rain. I still haven’t got a decent bivvy bag though, but Rab seem like a good make.
Anyway, time was running out but the start of the route to the bothy was found after some hunting. The gateway was not signed in any way, I thought they had to put a marker on public footpaths?

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A short walk down to the footbridge confirmed that this is the right place. It’s always good to get your map-reading confirmed.
With the course at Plas-y-Brenin in mind, I fancy more challenging navigation routes, more difficult the better.
More stops on the way home including a walkabout on the Berwins. It looks like fine DofE terrain. With rolling heather and some cliffs to the east.

Cwm Caseg, Carneddeau.

11°C, cloud above 500m, NW breeze.
Valley walk behind Carnedd Dafedd. A forgotten valley that is largely marshy with wide open vistas. Or at least when you can see them, low cloud often closed in and removed any visibility, no reference points to show the way. Only the last known position and slope direction. Good job last week’s training was good at Plas-y-Brenin. I was constantly using the compass and even counting paces (59 is 100m). Not once did I loose my location; only near the lake did any doubt creep in. My phone’s GPS actually have a wrong reading, both for height and grid reference.  I nearly turned back and then as if some godly intention, the clouds lifted enough.
The lake was over the next rise. For a few minutes, it was clear enough to reveal the back wall.
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Odd things: dead horses, at least their skeletons. One was missing it’s skull, and another had only a jawbone. The hooves made it obvious what they were. Both were very small but quite chunky.
Another odd thing was the pennywort. [See photo]. The shapes it made were quite animal, like a throat, maybe.
There was a problem near the end to solve. A couple arrived part way through my hour of trying to find a river crossing. The bridge was down and the river in spate. Plenty of rocks stood proud of the water but they were covered in very slippery black slime. I even tried fording it in bare feet, but the boulders beneath the water were also as slippery as ice.
In the end, I changed the route to avoid that river.
The guy was still with me and he had a GPS device to map read. Nice, but it threw my concentration. Following him was the only time I got my feet wet.

All along the Glyders.

12° to 7°C with moderate wind.
Up at 6 and set off for breakfast at the pinnacle cafe, Capel Curig. Excellent and at a good price too. Bought a pair of summer gloves for days like today. Nice in the valleys but cold aloft. The gloves I really liked were £85! No way!

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From Capel Curig, I climbed onto the Glyders from the gentle eastern slope. Today was all about walking the length of the range and something good happened as I went along. At each summit, the cloud lifted or even cleared. By the by mid afternoon, the sun was out and the rocks were in sharp relief.
As often on the year’s first proper hike, the descent was quite hard and slow. I came down off the range behind Llyn Idwal. Place have made this ground far easier. Coming off Glyder Fawr was the worst bit with its loose shattered rock on a bed of soil on a steep slope.
I should have some good photos to show off when I get back.

Llyn Ogwen, camp.

18°C, Clear sky, still.
Arrived at the usual Llyn Ogwen camp to find it busy with bank holiday campers. The atmosphere is good though.
Forecast for tomorrow is poor, 5°C at summits and in cloud. Rain all morning, some of it is heavy.
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200th mile.

11°C, light wind but dull grey.
I rode Cyclocross Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 14.59mi, time: 01:22:24, pace: 5:39min/mi, speed: 10.62mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/996576491
A
ctually, it’s my 195th mile of the week, but so what?
I have that empty feeling that comes after a week’s high milage. My tanks are empty. The ride this morning was nice enough, start at 6.50 and get home just after 8am. Surfaces are quite firm now as we get towards the end of May.
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My Ceanothus in full bloom. I worry that its weight may topple the non-too strong trunk. If so, it would fall into the pond. It needs a stake.

Canal commute.

19°C, light wind and clear sky.
I rode Jake with MapMyRide+! Distance: 16.5mi, time: 01:19:18, pace: 4:48min/mi, speed: 12.5mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/994624185
Rode Cyclocross on the commute today. I took the normal route in, but returned along the canal. It winds around and industrial estate and some rough housing. But in May, everything is lush, water lilies in the canal, a heron fishing and all sorts of water fowl. Perfect weather though I was over dressed.
It’s a shame the canal only gets 5 miles from home. There is one nearer, but it’s a large loop round.

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The surfaces are better than other canals I use, wide and often ash covered.

Fixed 61

12°C, white cloud and one shower. Strong W.
I rode with MapMyRide+! Distance: 61.8mi, time: 04:26:08, pace: 4:18min/mi, speed: 13.9mi/h.
http://mapmyride.com/workout/988541573
Riding fixed in wind is not recommended. Wind is a weakness of single speed bikes, it turns the ride into a long steady climb up a hill. That hill can easily be ten miles long. The trick is to choose a route that crosses the wind direction as much as possible.
Speaking of hills, I got up Bannister Hill again, also after Dalton.
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Joey in the woods.

Plas-y-Brenin 3

13°C, brisk SW, sunny and cloud building later.
Great conditions, though the wind is strong with attendant wind-chill. Bright sun that needs sun-block.

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Photo: very early sun on the Snowdon Horseshoe.
Today’s route we planned ourselves.
Our route started in a wooded horseshoe valley on the edge of the Molwynion. Out of the trees, we walked in strong sunshine and strong wind. I need to re-think clothing for these days, perhaps a thin windproof and gilet combination.
Navigation used subtle amounts features which honed our techniques. I got the feeling that Helen, the instructor, was becoming confident in us. Sometimes she passed over checking my position, but I knew where we were.
On return to the bus, I was feeling the cumulative lack of sleep. Debrief was rousing for me though. I am thrilled by the prospect of 20 more Quality Hill days and some at night. It was even suggested that I consider Mountain Leader Award.
note for future reference: I packed 2 1/2 litres of water and drank 2/3 of it. The backpack weighed 20 kilos (a 40 litre bag). Now I have a water filter, I should be able to pack a 60 litre bag at the same weight.